Santa offers virtual visits in time for Christmas

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Like everyone 2020, even St. Nick is adapting to the changing times. Santa Claus is now offering virtual visits to spread holiday cheer. He teamed up with Davenport Productions and created 'Santa Live!', a website that allows private conferencing with him online from the comfort of your own home.

Vanessa Wohlers is the senior creative producer for the website. As a mother of three, she wanted to make sure there were other options available than the traditional in-person meetings.

“I was concerned that my kids were not going to have a way to safely see Santa. So we launched 'Santa Live!' There’s a booking calendar. You pick your date and time.”

The children will have about 10 minutes to share their Christmas list with Santa. Santa says they will have plenty to talk about.

“We can log on and have a nice little chat. We can, of course, go over their Christmas wishes. We’ll just talk about various things. How are things at home, whether or not their home is already decorated. You know, so many of the children just love to help decorate the tree, “Santa explained.

Michelle Stegeby says if she wasn’t taking her seven-year-old daughter Kalina to see Santa in person, she would definitely think about this option.

“You could personalize something like that, you can make it one on one, and I think that you can make it really special.”

Gabby’s two boys are very excited about Santa. Every year they drop off their letters in downtown St. Petersburg, then visit Santa in the park. Although this year, things may be changing.

“Meeting Santa is pretty exciting for my kids so we do it every year. We have to do it. But, now with the whole COVID thing, we don’t know what we are going to do this year. It’s kind of a big impact on our tradition for our family,” Gabby shared. “As long as my children see Santa’s face, that’s all that really matters. As long as they still see Santa, it’s all that matters.

Santa just wants everyone to know it’s going to be okay.

“Yes, don’t be worrying about a thing, that I’ll be delivering their presents on Christmas Eve, right on time. Ho…Ho…Ho…”